Rosemary Shisler, Ross Savas and Michael Gibson of Kay & Burton discuss marketing real estate, and how techniques have changed over the years.
One of Victoria’s oldest boutique agencies Kay & Burton is turning 80 and has just launched a new spring campaign with the tagline “Making real estate an art form since 1938″.
Kay & Burton senior marketing manager, Rosemary Shisler said that “We started with the fact it was our 80th anniversary in 2018, so we wanted to celebrate that legacy, but also we knew we wanted to focus on the art-form concept and our established relationship with the National Gallery of Victoria”.
“The result is like you are walking the homes on a gallery tour,” said Ms Shisler.
There are no faces or names, no sweeping hero shots, only meticulously chosen and executed shots of the fine, micro details of its three prestige house locations.
Voice-over commentary takes viewers on a whimsical journey that feels more private gallery tour than open house.
The real estate industry is constantly changing and long gone are the traditional ways of selling real estate.
Ms Shisler told WILLIAMS MEDIA Kay & Burton has introduced a very targeted digital marketing layer to all of their property marketing campaigns, producing strong, quantifiable results.
“We’re targeting the right people, at the right time, with the right message.
9 Mernda Road, Kooyong for sale by expressions of interest by Ross Savas and Steven Rode of Kay & Burton South Yarra, as seen on Luxury List“Our campaigns are also now being brought to life with luxe and artistic “teaser” films designed by Sirap Studios.
“We’re producing property-related content that engages our target market, increasing the content’s reach and results.”
Related reading: Get to know Julia de Campo of Kay & Burton Armadale
What has made the biggest impact on the real estate industry has been technology, said joint managing director, Ross Savas.
“The explosion of the internet and surrounding technology changed the direction of the real estate market," said Mr Savas.
"Hand held devices have saved time for agents and they no longer need to be in the office to check emails and messages.
"A game changer for most professions but critical for agents.”
According to Michael Gibson, joint managing director of Kay & Burton, the agency’s early adoption of new technology and systems is what has kept them at the cutting edge of the real estate world.
“We are constantly on the look-out for the next trend and believe we changed the game when it came to marketing properties," said Mr Gibson.
“We were the first to use interior designers to style homes, the first to use night photography and the first to use film and full-scale productions.”
Mr Savas told WILLIAMS MEDIA he remembers when Kay & Burton was the first agency to move from sketch drawings of homes to high grade photography, and small ads to large ads to really showcase a property.
3 Heyington Place, Toorak for sale by expressions of interest, by Michael Gibson and Robert Li of Kay & Burton South Yarra, as seen on Luxury List
“About 21 years ago we were the first ones to introduce night photography to better service our clients and showcase their properties,” said Mr Savas.
“We work with a lot of time poor people, both in Australia and across the globe, which has always pushed us to keep on finding better ways to assist them.
“Our global service includes not only finding them a home but assisting in the relocation such as schooling options for their children, finding a local doctor and introducing them to the community.”
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Ms Shisler said Kay & Burton blends unique creativity with cutting-edge digital marketing executions.
“Because Kay & Burton’s homes are presented like pieces of art, we wanted to take artistic, atypical real estate photographs of our homes for this campaign as well.
“We took photos of homes currently on the market and shot sharp angles, geometric shapes and luxury details.”
Kay & Burton created video imagery for a home in Portsea which went on to sell for $27 million, almost a decade ago.
Mr Savas said “I remember at the time there were about a dozen people interested in the Portsea home, and the person who ended up buying it, first saw the video and then decided to visit the home.”
“No one thought that the house was going to sell for that price, but the marketing turned out to be very efficient and I believe the video we created played a large part in the outcome.”
Related reading:
Gallery-inspired South Yarra penthouse combines large scale entertaining with intimate daily living
Creators of high end real estate marketing material expanding business